25 Things Vanishing in America, part 2: 10 p.m. drama on network TV
Filed under: Extracurriculars
I'm supposed to write about the disappearing 10 p.m. drama, but quickly, first, a Jay Leno anecdote. Back in the early 1990s, shortly before he took over the reigns of The Tonight Show, I actually met the legendary comedian in person. He was performing at Indiana University where I was a student, and I had written him a fan letter, and he was nice enough to call me and invite me backstage to meet him. Unfortunately, as cornfed college student, I was so excited that when I did meet him, I didn't act like a normal person. I stammered a few inarticulate thoughts and punctured our stilted conversation with a lot of long, awkward pauses. It's one of those fond memories that also makes me cringe.In any case, Mr. Leno's gesture way back when means that I can't help but hope he succeeds when this fall, he starts his 10 p.m. show, Monday through Friday. I hope his show is a big hit even if -- as some people suspect -- it means a deathblow to the 10 p.m. drama on network television.Ten p.m. has long been a time reserved for grown-up programming. As a kid in the 1970s, those shows were more mythical to me than anything else. Fantasy Island was on at 10 p.m. on Saturdays, and so I could stay up for that. Charlie's Angels was on at 10 p.m. when it debuted in 1976 but due to its popularity soon began airing earlier. But shows like The Streets of San Francisco, Family, Barnaby Jones and Lou Grant, and in the early 1980s, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere were out of my reach... at least on school nights.
Without that 10 p.m. slot, there might be no Hart to Hart, no Quincy, M.E. or Knots Landing. We may have never had a cultural touchstone like the "Who shot J.R.?" storyline from Dallas. So it is kind of sad, at least for some TV afficianados like myself, to think about the 10 p.m. drama on network TV disappearing. And yet, with so many TV shows available on web sites like Hulu.com and Netflix (subscription needed), there are a lot of those older 10 p.m. shows easily accessable, and it's not as if you can't find 10 p.m. dramas on cable channels like USA and TNT, and of course, we still have ABC and CBS to keep the tradition alive.
But certainly Leno's arrival at 10 p.m. coincides with the passing of the most successful 10 p.m. drama in some time, ER, which recently ended. ER first debuted on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. in 1994, fifteen years ago, and while some critics have carped that the show jumped the shark awhile ago, there's no question that it's been a huge success and given a lot of people something to enjoy watching from 10-11 p.m.
But even back when ER arrived, the 10 p.m. drama was in some trouble. Three years earlier, in 1991, the Atlanta Journal Constitution observed, "Viewers are turning away from late-night heaviness. There hasn't been a hit 10 p.m. drama introduced since LA Law debuted five years ago."
In 1994, when Drs, Greene, Ross and Carter started saving lives, NYPD Blue on ABC was a hit and Northern Exposure was gasping its last, but in general, networks were going with inexpensively produced news series like Prime Time Live, Turning Point, Dateline NBC and 48 Hours. (For anyone who wants to see what was airing when, check out Wikipedia's amazing history of TV program schedules.)
So maybe it's time for something new, and of course, maybe it'll work out well for everyone, with Jay Leno commanding enough of a chunk of an audience to keep performing at 10 p.m. indefinitely, and CBS and ABC able to offer programming for people who enjoy seeing families implode and detectives nailing bad guys.
Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-06-2009 @ 12:45PM
LIONEL said...
HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED ( COMCAST TV ) THAT CABLE`S COSTING MORE AND GIVING YOU LESS DAY AFTER DAY !
IT`S THE SAME " OLD OLD " MOVIES OVER AND OVER , IF YOU FIND SOME NEW AND " GOOD " YOU ARE VERY LUCKY !
JUST CRAP ON ABOUT 25 OR MORE CHANNELS ALL THE TIME .
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4-06-2009 @ 2:41PM
Mary said...
USA with shows like "Burn Notice" and "In Plain Sight" have networks like ABC, CBS, and NBC beat, hands down, no debating it. "Burn Notice" with all of its spy stuff, quirky characters, and plot twists is like a Carl Hiasson novel turned television. I am so looking forward to when the show returns in June with all new episodes. "In Plain Sight" is just as much fun to watch. Every woman would love to be Mary, and every guy would love to be her partner Marshall. Both shows do not bum you out. They are adventure shows that make you look forward to the next show. I haven't felt this positive about watching television shows since I was a teenager in the 1970's. Reality TV will never replace real writers with great storylines and good actors. I hate reality TV shows. They suck.
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4-08-2009 @ 12:44AM
Walt said...
I'm suspecting Leno is only the beginning of a trend on a couple of fronts:
1. Network prime time dramas on average cost I believe $6-7 million AN EPISODE to produce, and most don't do well in repeats, unless your show happens to have "Law & Order" in the title (which is one reason "SVU" has already been renewed for season 11 and the original along with "Criminal Intent" likely will get at least another season).
2. People are getting up earlier than ever for work or school, evidenced by local stations more than ever starting morning newscasts at 4:30 or 5:00 AM local time.
It's quite possible that Leno's show starts as a 10:00 PM ET show but then local news moves to 10:00 and then Leno becomes a 10:30 PM ET show, with 10:30 becoming what 11:35 has been.
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4-08-2009 @ 7:31AM
Bill said...
10 p.m. drama on network TV? I grewup in the 80s and I don't remember it ever being that way. 10pm was the local news then 10:30 was late night TV. But maybe that's because I'm for AZ.
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4-17-2009 @ 2:24PM
sylva` said...
LA Law premiered 5 years ago? In what universe?? Could have sworn that was back in late 80s
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4-26-2009 @ 4:22PM
Adam said...
After E.R. went off I was a little skeptical about Southland, but I saw two episodes and they were excellent. I mean beyond today's standards. I hope people are willing to turn away from CSI (God willing after so many years,) or that Private Practice drivel and experience some intelligent drama again. it's bad enough that the sitcom is going down the tubes, but if the smart one hour drama disappears get ready for the NBC's Summer of reality TV all year around. Also people have to open their mind when it comes to scripted science fiction or even horror series, I mean we lost some quality ones way too early (LIfe on Mars, Nightstalker, Moonlight, almost certainly now the Sarah Conner Chronicles, even Buffy was cancelled before it's time). Here's hoping Fringe and dare i say, Reaper will get additional seasons.
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4-27-2009 @ 5:10PM
Merrilyn O'Brien said...
I would hate to see dramas disappear from the 10:00 P.M. TV spot. I do not enjoy situation comedies but I do like dramas. I think FX does a great job with Rescue Me and Damages.
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4-26-2009 @ 9:14PM
Ryno said...
Lucky for me, I love Leno, so I'm good to go.
But forget 10pm dramas. How 'bout the garbage that's on from 8-10?? Reality sleaze, cavemen crap, couples unfunnily bickering, audience-less sitcoms (not that there's anything to laugh at), sci-fi/afterlife/psychics/medical drama nonsense (please, no more shows set in hospitals. Enough already). There's not even theme songs anymore!!!
Thank God for TV Land and other rerun networks.
Sylva, this story referenced an article from 1991 stating that "LA Law...", blah, blah.
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4-27-2009 @ 6:41PM
Fred said...
Ten P.M. is the time for news--not heavy drama
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5-04-2009 @ 12:37PM
Carol said...
What happens to the 10 pm shows that are on now? Are they going to be put in an earlier time slot and get rid of some of the insulting comedies - I am all for the drama - the shows are good and I am not into too much of Leno - although I like him but wondering if he will be able to make the 10 pm slot worki. A lot of people like the 10 pm dramas etc. will they return? And if so, when will the public find out what time they will be on? So many comedies on and they are not that funny - mostly rude, and insulting - not much respect for adults from the children on the shows - that is so lacking in today's society - where is the respect?
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4-29-2009 @ 12:12AM
John said...
Maybe it's because the 10pm drama was replaced by the 8pm drama and the 9pm drama? Or should I say the 8pm murder followed by the 9pm murder!
Why is it that every crime drama, or lawyer drama, or cop show needs to have a murder within the first five minutes? Can't the writers do something original, like a kidnapping or a missing person that is found?
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